Opening Bid :
Current Bid:
Reserve Amount:

Notice: You are the current high bidder on this lot, but the next highest bid is within one increment. That means that any additional bids on this lot will outbid you. To increase your chances of winning, enter your highest maximum bid.

You are the current high bidder on this lot with a secret maximum bid of %s.

You are the current high bidder on this lot.
(Sign-In to see your maximum bid)

Your secret maximum bid of %s has been outbid.

Your secret maximum bid of %s does not meet the reserve.

You have been outbid on this lot.
(Sign-In to see your maximum bid)

Your secret maximum bid does not meet the reserve.
(Sign-In to see your maximum bid)

Category: All Auction Archive Items > Miscellaneous > Ephemera

Previous Lot | Auction Home | Next Lot      Jump to Lot:
Lot: 48092
Auction: 6013   		Dr Pepper: The Original "Dr Pepper Pepsin Bitters" Formula Handwritten in the Ledger Book from the Waco Drug Store in which It... (Total: 1 Items)
  • Track this lot. You are tracking this item ... updating ... (stop tracking)
 
 
 

BP - Buyer's Premium

A "Buyer's Premium" is charged in addition to the successful bid according to the rate defined in our terms and conditions.

Opening Bid

The opening bid is the minimum amount required to begin bidding, and is generally a percentage of the low estimate.

Bid Information

For your convenience, the bid information on this page automatically refreshes with the most up to date data so you don't have to refresh/reload this page.

Minimum Bid

Bid increments determine the lowest amount you may bid on a particular lot. Normally, bids must be at least one bidding increment over the current bid. However, podium, fax, phone and mail bidders submit bids at various times without knowing the current bid and must be on-increment or at a half increment (called a cut bid). Any podium, fax, phone, or mail bids that do not conform to a full or half increment will be rounded up or down to the nearest full or half increment. However, for Internet bids, these increments only apply to the current bid. Internet bids greater than one increment over the current bid can be any whole dollar amount. It is possible under several circumstances for winning bids to be between increments, sometimes only $1 above the previous increment.

Number of Bidders

This number represents the number of individual bidders prior to the close of Internet bidding on each lot. An individual who bids more than once is still counted only once. During the live session, only the winning bidder is included in this number, although detailed records are kept of all forms of bids.

Status

Reserve (If Any) Not Posted Yet:
Although many lots will not get reserves, this signifies that we have not yet posted any reserves to this entire auction. Reserves are usually posted approximately 3 days prior to the closing for Internet-only auctions, and approximately 7 days prior to the live session for Signature auctions.
Consignor Has Not Yet Submitted a Reserve:
Although the consignor's agreement allows a reserve on this lot, the deadline for submitting such a reserve has elapsed. If consignor submits a reserve post-deadline and the item fails to meet that reserve, we may charge the consignor a higher reserve fee.
No Reserve:
This lot is being sold without a reserve. (Note: By law, consignors may still bid under certain conditions, but they are responsible for paying the full Buyer's Premium and Seller's Commission if they do.)
Reserve Not Met:
A reserve has been posted on this lot, but no bids have met the reserve. The current bid has been set to the reserve amount, and the next bid will meet the reserve.
Reserve Met:
Reserves have been posted for this auction, and there is a reserve on this lot that has already been met.

What's This?

Our Auction Results Archives are not only the best resource for market research, but now you have the opportunity to acquire very rare items that may not be auctioned again for some time by making an anonymous offer that will make the owner sell. Items labeled "Buy Now" indicate that the owner has set a price that would make them sell.

Please note that the winner of this Heritage auction lot may or may not still own this item and may or may not be willing to sell. This service is free to the buyer, protects the identity of both parties, and allows offers and counter-offers. You will receive a response within 72 hours.


View Larger Image

Sold for: Not Sold

Not Sold

This indicates an item that did not sell at auction because it did not receive bids equal to or greater than the reserve (minimum bid) amount set by the consignor, or the opening bid.
Ended: May 12, 2009
  Printable Version of Prices Realized for this Auction
 
Buyer's Premium: 19.5% of the successful bid (minimum $9.00 per lot)
Description
Dr Pepper: The Original "Dr Pepper Pepsin Bitters" Formula Handwritten in the Ledger Book from the Waco Drug Store in which It was Invented. A 360+ page ledger book, 8.5" x 13.5", with hundreds of drug and product formulas written and tipped in, circa 1880-1920. A book like this would have been the most precious and carefully-guarded possession of any drug store as it contained the formulas or "recipes" for the various medicinal, household, health, and beauty products that were the business lifeblood of any such establishment. This book, because of its handwritten Castles Formulas title on the cover, certainly originated with the founder of the store in 1880, and continued in use for many years with various individuals adding formulas in scattered locations throughout the book. Starting from the beginning, here is a sampling of some of the products this amazing book has the formulas for: Dr. Wilkes Dead Shot for Tape Worm; Red Lead Ointment; King's Korn Kure; Indelible Ink; Kough Kure (contains morphine acetate and chloroform- it probably would stop a cough!); Catarrh Inhalant; Dr Samuel Johnson's Cough Syrup; Calamine Lotion; La Grippe Remedies; Rubber Stamp Ink; Austin Avenue Cologne; Floor Wax; Orange-Flower Skin Food; Coating Solution for Rx Counter; Bust Developer; Castles Hair Restorer; Stephen's Condition Powder; Miller Chill Tonic; and Conger's Horse Powder. Of course, the most important formula of all is found on page 19, headed Dr Peppers Pepsin Bitters. The condition of the book is fair with the covers and some pages loose and tattered, scattered foxing and soiling.

Waco, Texas, now a quiet and beautiful city of 120,000+ people and the home to Baylor University, was quite different in the years after the Civil War. It had two nicknames during that period: "The Athens of Texas" referring to its multiple institutes of higher learning; and "Six-Shooter Depot" referring to the plethora of gun-toting outlaws, barroom brawls, and street shootings. In the midst of all the "recreational" businesses in Waco, which included numerous saloons, gambling halls, and a quasi-legal bordello, a pharmacist by the name of John W. Castles opened up a large corner drug store at Fourth and Austin in 1880. He soon took a partner, Wade B. Morrison, who then bought him out and renamed the establishment Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store.

Drug stores of the day not only sold medicinal compounds, household products, and filled doctors' prescriptions, they sometimes even removed bullets from the victims of the street shootings. Another major business for Morrison's Old Corner Drug Store was its soda fountain serving "soft" drinks and other confections, a popular gathering place for the more sedate citizenry of Waco. A staff pharmacist named Charles Alderton loved to mix various original flavors, add carbonation (a fairly new process), and serve them to his customers. A graduate of the University of Texas Medical School in Galveston, Alderton loved the mixture of scents that the drug store produced and he wanted to come up with a soft drink flavor that reminded him of these wonderful aromas. One fateful day when he thought he had succeeded in formulating a totally unique new taste, he asked his boss, W. B. Morrison, to sample the new concoction. They agreed that this was something special and started serving it to their fountain trade. Without a real name yet, it was often referred to as a "Waco." It quickly became so popular that it had to be given a name. The number of different legends as to how and why "Dr Pepper" was chosen number about a dozen but it followed a trend of the day to give products names with "Doctor" in the title in order to make them sound more healthful. The actual date of the first Dr Pepper is lost to posterity but the U.S. Patent Office recognizes December 1, 1885 as the official date when it was first served at the Old Corner Drug Store.

The fame of this tasty treat spread to the point that Morrison and Alderton couldn't mix enough of the syrup in their backroom to satisfy demand. Alderton was a pharmacist at heart and by trade and he soon dropped out of the soft drink business; a gentleman by the name of Robert Lazenby stepped in. He and Morrison started a new company in 1891, the Artesian Manufacturing and Bottling Company, which would eventually become the Dr Pepper Company. For a number of years, the product was known mostly in Texas. The 1904 World's Fair and Exposition in St. Louis changed that forever. Dr Pepper got its first national exposure to twenty million people. The rest, as they say, is history. Dr. Pepper was the first of the major American soft drinks to be formulated (pre-dating Coca-Cola by a year) and the only one invented west of the Mississippi. Texas is proud to have shared it with the world.

The king of beverages. Drink a bite to eat at 10, 2, and 4. The friendly pepper-upper. America's most misunderstood soft drink. The most original soft drink ever. Be a pepper. It makes the world taste better. Be you. There's just more to it. These are some of the memorable ad campaign slogans used by Dr Pepper through the last 100+ years. The simple fact is that Dr Pepper has long since transcended being just a soda pop; it is a pop culture phenomenon. Some astute private collector or institution will be fortunate enough to own this amazing component of its humble beginning.

Auction Name: 2009 May Grand Format Political & Americana Auction #6013
Description: Campaign memorabilia and other historical Americana
Auction Type: Grand Format: !! Heritage Live: After Internet bidding closes, live bidding will take place through www.HA.com/Live. Your secret maximum bid placed prior to the live event will compete against the live bids. To maximize your chances of winning, enter realistic secret maximum bids on our site. Many of our proxy bidders are successful at winning lots in these auctions, and usually below their secret maximum. You can also place last minute bids directly with us by e-mailing Bid@HA.com or calling 1-866-835-3243. (Important note: Due to software and Internet latency, live bids may not register in time, so enter realistic proxy bids.)

This lot is in:  Grand Format Floor Session (Live Floor, Live Phone, Mail, Fax, Internet, and Heritage Live) (lots 48001-48387)
Internet bidding ends at 10:00PM CT the night before the floor session for this lot. During the live auction event, bidding in person is encouraged, and Heritage Live includes streaming audio and often video during the event.

Item Activity: 0 Internet/mail bidders, 9,509 page views


Find Auction Prices for Comparable Items
Heritage Auction Archives

Prices realized from 2,324,804 past auction lots.
Great valuation tool!

Photographs


Sign-in or Join (free & quick) to see the full image

Previous Lot | Auction Home | Next Lot      Jump to Lot:
Go to Top


Please Wait

Loading.......

Heritage delivers Value - $694,500,693 sold at auction and in private treaty sales over the past 12 months.

Our 74,301 Historical Collectible bidder-members and 480,027 Heritage bidder-members overall (from 164 countries) enjoy all these free benefits:

  1. Bid on-line
  2. Free Collector newsletter
  3. Want List with instant e-mail notifications
  4. Auction Archives (prices, photos, full descriptions, etc.)
  5. Hall of Fame
  6. Reduced auction
    commissions when
    you resell your
    winnings 

Members Sign In

Free Newsletter and Announcements!

Quality Consignments Wanted

Only 30 days left to consign to the 2010 February Signature Historical Manuscripts Auction!

We expect to have one of our Consignment Directors visiting your area soon. Please call to arrange an appointment.

E-mail Joe Fay or call
1-800-872-6467 x1544

Video Video: Why Consign?

View traffic of HA.com vs. other auctions on Compete.com

In The News

sss

Recent Auctions

2009 November Grand Format Americana Auction
Realized $932,887 		2009 November Grand Format Americana Auction
Cross Promotion

Don't miss out!
Get e-mail notifications in all of your areas of interest.